1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus equipped with a touch panel. More particularly, the present invention is suitably used in an electronic apparatus in which the touch panel and a non-conductive exterior member are provided across a gap.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a recent year, products equipped with a touch panel in an electronic apparatus have been known. An operation with the touch panel is superior in a graphical user interface (GUI) compared with a conventional operation with a physical button. With the touch panel, an intuitive operation can be performed while looking at a screen, and can realize various operability according to software.
In a case of a general touch panel of a resistance film type, to protect wirings from the resistance film at the uppermost surface of the touch panel to an internal of a main body of the apparatus, the touch panel is located one step lower than a surrounding exterior member so as to cover an edge of the touch panel with the exterior member. However, in an electronic apparatus in which downsizing and thinning are required, in a recent year, the touch panel and the exterior member have been designed to be at an approximately same surface level.
When the touch panel and the surrounding exterior member are located at the approximately same surface level, a gap is generated between the touch panel and the exterior member in consideration of a building-in process. If the exterior member is made of a conductive material, static electricity flows to an earth portion of a circuit board through the exterior member when static electricity is applied on a surrounding of the touch panel.
However, if the exterior member is made of a non-conductive material, the applied static electricity flows in a circuit of the touch panel through the aforementioned gap and may cause an error operation in a product. Therefore, in a case of an electronic apparatus having the exterior member made of a non-conductive material, a mechanism for preventing flowing-in of the static electricity to the circuit of the touch panel is necessary.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-185991 discusses the electronic apparatus in which a transparence conductive film sheet is stuck on a surface of a liquid crystal display panel and a conductive sheet with a conductive adhesive is stuck on the conductive film sheet. The conductive sheet with the conductive adhesive is crimped to an earth portion which is a ground potential side. Therefore, the static electricity applied on the liquid crystal display panel transmits through the transparent conductive film sheet, further transmits through the conductive sheet with the conductive adhesive, and fall down to the ground of a power source.
However, in the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-185991, the sticking strength of the adhesive in the conductive sheet with the conductive adhesive may change due to a change with the passage of time, so that a stable performance may not be provided for a long time period.
Further, in a recent year, to produce a thin device and improve visibility, a number of an electronic apparatus, in which a touch panel is fixed to a liquid crystal display element, has been increased. In the apparatus with such a configuration, the touch panel and the liquid crystal display element are fixed in a state enabling movement by a predetermined amount in a perpendicular direction to a display screen. In such an apparatus, a structure which is called as a floating structure has been often adopted. In the floating structure, the touch panel is moved and positioned to an opening of the apparatus exterior at a time of assembling. Since the touch panel and the earth portion are relatively movable, it is not easy to obtain a stable connection by using the aforementioned conductive sheet with the conductive adhesive.